Book of Common Prayer
God Saved Israel from Egypt
A maskil of Asaph.
78 My people, listen to my teaching.
Listen to what I say.
2 I will speak using stories.
I will tell things that have been secret since long ago.
3 We have heard them and know them.
Our fathers told them to us.
4 We will not keep them from our children.
We will tell those who come later
about the praises of the Lord.
We will tell about his power
and the miracles he has done.
5 The Lord made an agreement with Jacob.
He gave the teachings to Israel.
And he commanded our ancestors
to teach them to their children.
6 Then their children would know them,
even their children not yet born.
And they would tell their children.
7 So they would all trust God.
They would not forget what God had done.
Instead, they would obey his commands.
8 They would not be like their ancestors
who were stubborn and disobedient.
Their hearts were not loyal to God.
They were not true to him.
9 The men of Ephraim had bows for weapons.
But they ran away on the day of battle.
10 They didn’t keep their agreement with God.
They refused to live by his teachings.
11 They forgot what he had done
and the miracles he had shown them.
12 He did miracles while their ancestors watched,
in the fields of Zoan in Egypt.
13 He divided the Red Sea and led them through.
He made the water stand up like a wall.
14 He led them with a cloud by day.
And he led them at night by the light of a fire.
15 He split the rocks in the desert.
And he gave them much water, as if it were from the deep ocean.
16 He brought streams out of the rock.
The water flowed down like rivers.
17 But the people continued to sin against him.
In the desert they turned against God Most High.
18 They decided to test God
by asking for the food they wanted.
19 Then they spoke against God.
They said, “Can God prepare food in the desert?
20 When he hit the rock, water poured out.
Rivers flowed down.
But can he give us bread also?
Will he provide his people with meat?”
21 When the Lord heard them, he was very angry.
His anger was like fire to the people of Jacob.
His anger grew against the people of Israel.
22 They had not believed God.
They had not trusted him to save them.
23 But he gave a command to the clouds above.
The doors of heaven opened.
24 He rained manna down on them to eat.
He gave them grain from heaven.
25 So they ate the bread of angels.
He sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He sent the east wind from heaven.
He led the south wind by his power.
27 He rained meat on them like dust.
The birds were as many as the sand of the sea.
28 He made the birds fall inside the camp,
all around the tents.
29 So the people ate and became very full.
God had given them what they wanted.
30 While they were still eating,
and while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God became angry with them.
He killed some of the healthiest of them.
He struck down the best young men of Israel.
32 But they kept on sinning.
They did not believe even with the miracles.
33 So he ended their days without meaning
and their years in terror.
34 Anytime he killed them, some would look to him for help.
They would come back to God and follow him.
35 They would remember that God was their Rock,
that God Most High had saved them.
36 But their words were false.
Their tongues lied to him.
37 Their hearts were not really loyal to God.
They did not keep his agreement.
38 Still God was merciful.
He forgave their sins.
He did not destroy them.
Many times he held back his anger.
He did not stir up all his anger.
39 He remembered that they were only human.
They were like a wind that blows and does not come back.
40 They turned against God so often in the desert!
There they made him very sad.
41 Again and again they tested God.
They brought pain to the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power
or the time he saved them from the enemy.
43 They forgot the signs he did in Egypt
and his miracles in the fields of Zoan.
44 He turned the rivers to blood.
So no one could drink the water.
45 He sent flies that bit the people.
He sent frogs that destroyed them.
46 He gave their crops to grasshoppers
and what they worked for to locusts.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamore trees with sleet.
48 He killed their animals with hail
and their cattle with lightning.
49 He showed them his hot anger.
He sent his strong anger against them.
He sent his destroying angels.
50 He found a way to show his anger.
He did not keep them from dying.
He let them die by a terrible disease.
51 God killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt,
the oldest son of each family of Ham.[a]
52 But God led out his people like sheep.
He guided them like a flock through the desert.
53 He led them to safety. They had nothing to fear.
But their enemies drowned in the sea.
54 So God brought them to his holy land.
He brought them to the mountain country he took with his own power.
55 He forced out the other nations.
And he had his people inherit the land.
He let the tribes of Israel settle there in tents.
56 But they tested God
and turned against the Most High.
They did not keep his rules.
57 They turned away and sinned just like their ancestors.
They were like a crooked bow that does not shoot straight.
58 They made God angry by building places to worship false gods.
They made him jealous with their idols.
59 When God heard them, he became very angry.
And he rejected the people of Israel completely.
60 He left his dwelling at Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
61 He let his Ark of the Covenant be captured.
He let the Ark of the Covenant, which was his glory, be taken by enemies.
62 He let his people be killed.
He was very angry with his children.
63 The young men died by fire.
The young women had no one to marry.
64 Their priests fell by the sword.
But their widows were not allowed to cry.
65 Then the Lord got up as if he had been asleep.
He awoke like a man who was drunk with wine.
66 He struck down his enemies.
He disgraced them forever.
67 But God rejected the family of Joseph.
He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead, he chose the tribe of Judah
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
69 And he built his Temple high like the mountains.
Like the earth, he built it to last forever.
70 He chose David to be his servant.
He took him from the sheep pens.
71 He brought him from tending the sheep
so he could lead the flock, the people of Jacob.
This flock was his own people, the people of Israel.
72 And David led them with an innocent heart.
He guided them with skillful hands.
19 Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.”
Naaman left Elisha and went a short way. 20 Gehazi was the servant of Elisha the man of God. Gehazi thought, “My master has not accepted what Naaman the Aramean brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I’ll run after him. I’ll get something from him.” 21 So he went after him.
Naaman saw someone running after him. So he got off the chariot to meet Gehazi. He said, “Is everything all right?”
22 Gehazi said, “Everything is all right. My master has sent me. He said, ‘Two young men just came to me. They are from the group of the prophets in the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them 75 pounds of silver and two changes of clothes.’”
23 Naaman said, “Please take 150 pounds.” He urged Gehazi to take it. He tied 150 pounds of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes. Then he gave them to two of his servants. They carried them for Gehazi. 24 When they came to the hill, Gehazi took these things from Naaman’s servants. And he put them in the house. He let Naaman’s servants go, and they left.
25 Then he came in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”
Gehazi said, “I didn’t go anywhere.”
26 But Elisha said to him, “My spirit was with you. I knew when the man turned from his chariot to meet you. This isn’t a time to receive money, clothes, olives and grapes. It isn’t a time to receive sheep, oxen, male servants and female servants. 27 Naaman’s skin disease will come on you and your children forever.” When Gehazi left Elisha, he had the disease. He was as white as snow.
Wickedness in the Church
5 Now, it is actually being said that there is sexual sin among you. And it is of such a bad kind that it does not happen even among those who do not know God. A man there is living sinfully with his stepmother. 2 And still you are proud of yourselves! You should have been filled with sadness. And the man who did that sin should be put out of your group. 3 My body is not there with you, but I am with you in spirit. And I have already judged the man who did that sin. I judged him just as I would if I were really there. 4 Meet together as the people of our Lord Jesus. I will be with you in spirit, and you will have the power of our Lord Jesus with you. 5 Then give this man to Satan, so that his sinful self[a] will be destroyed. And then his spirit can be saved on the day of the Lord.
6 Your bragging is not good. You know the saying, “Just a little yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise.” 7 Take out all the old yeast so that you will be a new batch of dough. And you really are new dough without yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb, was killed to cleanse us. 8 So let us continue our feast, but not with the bread that has the old yeast. That old yeast is the yeast of sin and wickedness. But let us eat the bread that has no yeast. This is the bread of goodness and truth.
Jesus Teaches About Adultery
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You must not be guilty of adultery.’[a] 28 But I tell you that if anyone looks at a woman with lust, he has already committed adultery with her in his mind. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, then take it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, then cut it off and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Jesus Teaches About Divorce
31 “It was also said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written divorce paper.’[b] 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife is causing his wife to be guilty of adultery. The only reason for a man to divorce his wife is if she has been unfaithful to him. And anyone who marries that divorced woman is guilty of adultery.
Make Promises Carefully
33 “You have heard that it was said to our people long ago, ‘When you make a promise, don’t break your promise. Keep the promises that you make to the Lord.’[c] 34 But I tell you, never make an oath. Don’t make an oath using the name of heaven, because heaven is God’s throne. 35 Don’t make an oath using the name of the earth, because the earth belongs to God. Don’t make an oath using the name of Jerusalem, because that is the city of the great King. 36 And don’t even say that your own head is proof that you will keep your oath. You cannot make one hair on your head become white or black. 37 Say only ‘yes’ if you mean ‘yes,’ and say only ‘no’ if you mean ‘no.’ If you must say more than ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ it is from the Evil One.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.